SEVEN
by tzaya
Summary: For people like Shizuo and him, Izaya thought, being in the city gives them the illusion that they're close to others, despite how purposefully detached they make themselves out to be from forming close relationships with people. / Waking up to an empty Ikebukuro was the last thing he expected.
1. Chapter 1

**DAY 1**

Izaya began to yawn, stretching as he walked down the stairs— the sounds of cars whooshing by in front of his apartment was the first thing he heard and he _loved_ _it_. Loved it despite many others preferring chirps from birds than the loud noises that comes with the city life. To him, this seems more like living compared to a peaceful countryside that he knew Shizuo dreamt so much of.

"For people like us," the window of his office felt cool against his fingertips, the clear glass reflecting his smiling expression.

"Being in the city gives us the illusion that we're close to these humans."

Hence, _less loneliness_ , but he'd never admit that part out loud.

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[ **No one is in the chat room right now.**

CHROME: No one is here?

CHROME: Hm, everyone must be busy.

CHROME: Well! I'll come again later, then. ]

.

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 **504 Emails**

 **38 Unread**

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 _Re: Need information_

I heard that you're a capable informant. I need information regarding the man named Yusuke Nishimura. Meet me outside Opera City Tower at 2PM in two days. I'll pay great amount of money.

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 _Re: NOPLE INSURANCE CO._

Hi! Mr. Orihara, we've noticed that you're not using Nople Insurance.

Here at Nople Insurance we….

Click the link below for more information.

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 _Re: No subject_

YOU DIDN'T SPECIFICALL Y TEL ME THAT THAT GROUP KNEW THAT I WAS COMING. IT WAS A MISTAKE TO DEAL WITH YOU. NEVER AGAIN! IHOPE YOU ROT IN HELL

.

 _Re: Thank you._

I've talked to my wife about the affairs she'd been doing behind my back and showed the proof you gathered for me. I can't believe how oblivious I was. We're going to process the divorce soon. Thank you for your help. The payment has been transferred to your account.

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 **34 Unread**

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Namie's absence was only brought to his attention when he averted his gaze from his phone, slipping it into the pocket of his jeans. He thought that he'd slept past his alarm which was supposed to go off at seven, so she should be around by now, yet the files he'd put on his desk for her to take were still untouched.

"Namie-san," he called out, unmoving from his spot but he peered into the kitchen to see if she was making herself some coffee.

Her sharp remarks didn't grate on his ears.

"Ne, did she wander off to Seiji again? I guess I'll go to Ikebukuro, then."

It never crossed his mind that perhaps something odd was brewing in the air (after having grown used to Namie skipping days of work without any notice), he didn't think much about Namie's disappearance, reaching for his jacket and slipping it on to get on with his day. He could still feel fatigue weighing his body down but nothing he could do about it, if he slept in some more, then he would miss something interesting that might be taking place right now.

"It's quite early for my liking, but they say 'The early bird catches the worm'. What can I do when people demand my presence at such time? I have to keep my loved ones pleased," a sigh of contentment slipped past his lips while he kept himself occupied by tossing his switchblade and catching it during the walk to catch a train.

Normally, it would be packed with busy working men. However, ths time the train ride was rather uneventful.

There were less people than usual. Although he didn't enjoy being sandwiched between sweaty bodies, it was slightly disappointing to know that he couldn't see a variety of people in their vulnerable state. The anxiety obvious on their faces as they wait for the train to arrive at their destination, worrying about being late and for a moment, they forget to put on a smiling mask for the strangers to see.

He picked the old lady sitting across of him, and from her resting expression alone, he concluded that she was a sweet person— the smile she had on telling him that she was lonely, perhaps because her children have moved away for work or to focus on their families. The grocery she had seemed to be barely enough for one person, too, and he wondered if it was because she was short on money or she only needed that much and had more stored at home.

Izaya would've liked to start up a conversation with her and prove that his guesses were right (it gives him a bit of satisfaction to start his day with) but he didn't have much time on his hands as the ride to Ikebukuro didn't take that long. From what he observed of her, too, it was most likely that she'd eventually talk about her life which leads to a long chat.

"Is this your stop?"

A soft voice asked him when he got up on his feet, fingers holding on to the straps for support, and his gaze locked with the old woman's once he lifted his chin up to look at her once again. _Could she have noticed his stare?_ It didn't matter, though, he thought as he smiled in response.

"Yes. I'll be going first."

Before the doors closed behind him, he noticed from the corner of his eye that the people inside were watching him, and that no one else were getting off at this station.

It set off an uneasy feeling inside of him. Izaya didn't know why until he turned to face ahead, finding the station to be quiet and void of life, as though it was closed for renovation, which couldn't have been it since he wasn't told not to get off here. To confirm his suspicion, he ran outside, heart beating fast behind his ribcage but he couldn't care less.

The sight before him left his breathless, pupils widening in shock and lips parted but he couldn't utter a word, not to even express the shock. Some of the city lights were still on, signs and billboards still flashing those rainbow colours just like every other day, but there was no sound of people laughing and chatting to each other— there wasn't any sound at all. It was silent, and there was no one around except him.

Ikebukuro was like an abandoned city.

"Wh…" he swallowed, mind muddled from the sudden swarm of thoughts of what could've happened, but still, he attempted to pull himself out of it to put on a strong front.

"Could this be a prank? If it is, that's very impressive, to be able to unite as a whole city since I would've thought that at least one person would disagree to the plan."

The switchblade he always kept hidden in his sleeve, he slid it out onto his palm, ready to flick it open in case of a sudden ambush. There was no telling that some people weren't hiding behind the buildings or inside of an alley, just waiting for the right time where he gets close enough for them to take him down. It was paranoid thinking but Izaya still treaded the street carefully.

What he should be feeling was fear, but despite the immense confusion, he was actually more thrilled than anything. Nothing like this has taken place before. No one has dared to do such thing to him before, for they were too afraid that he would retaliate— but this? It didn't limit to just a group of people, but the whole city! _Isn't that exciting?_

It was odd that the usually buzzing city was now filled with so much silence that he could hear every crinkling sound his shoes made when they stepped on the fallen leaves of autumn, no shoulders brushing past his and only an empty street greets his eyes.

"Things really do move fast in this city," the laugh rasped in his throat.

"You take your eyes off it for a second and hundreds of things could happen."

Normally, this part of Ikebukuro would be filled with the familiar shouts of Simon promoting Russia Sushi, but he hadn't seen any sign of Simon anywhere—not even when he stepped into the restaurant. To assume that Simon was out to make deliveries didn't seem very logical when everyone else was missing too.

"I guess we have 100% off today. What a shame! If I had known, I wouldn't have bought a box last night. You could've told me, Simon."

Izaya leaned over the counter, his fingers picking up a piece of fatty tuna which he then proceeded to put on his tongue, moaning in satisfaction when the familiar taste he loved hit his tongue _just right_.

.

 **[** COME TO RUSSIA SUSHI**

 **EVERYDAY SPECIAL SUSHI, GOOD PRICE**

 **TELL YOUR FRIENDS!**

 **TODAY: CHOCOLATE SUSHI. YOU LOVE CHOCOLATE? YOU LOVE SUSHI? COME TO RUSSIA SUSHI **]**

.

"Hm, chocolate sushi is the special today? But I'd rather stick to my favourite, Dennis-san," Izaya stated casually despite knowing there wouldn't be any response, snatching another piece of his favourite sushi and nudging the blackboard sign with his foot— he noted that the Japanese characters were written rather clumsily, which was probably Simon's work (he guessed as much from the broken Japanese).

"I wonder where you two got the idea to combine these ingredients together. Cheese sushi, pasta sushi, and now chocolate sushi, they're definitely interesting but business must not be doing well lately. If this goes on the internet, however, it'll be much better. So if you're interested in that, you can call me over and I'll set it up for you. About the payments…."

"…I can accept payment in the form of sushi."

The silence that lingered only made Izaya grow bored, and he hopped off the counter after tossing the piece of fish into his mouth, humming a happy tune under his breath as he chewed it. He didn't forget to wave at the spot Dennis always stood behind the counter before leaving the premise.

"Well, I'll come again later!"

"Now, where to?"

"Shiki-san!"

Izaya threw the doors opened without a care, letting them make a loud bang when they crashed into the wall. It wasn't like anyone was around to hear it, anyway. Of course, he'd prepared himself ahead to not expect Shiki to be there, but it still disappointed him a little to see the room empty. It already didn't have much, only a coffee table and a few couches.

Something red akin to blood on the wall caught his attention, urging him to inspect it, but much to his dismay, it was only an old stain.

"Hm, that's boring," he frowned, straightening his back and tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Seemed like finding clues proved to be harder than he thought it'd be.

"You brought your goons with you, too. How inconsiderate. I personally think that I should have at least one bodyguard to shield me from whatever it is that made you evacuate, or died without a trace. Unless of course, you planned to find another informant— but I suit your taste better, right?"

Izaya threw himself onto a couch, pulling his phone out to open the Dollars website, only to see posts from last night that he'd read before he slept. There was nothing else, nothing about Ikebukuro turning this way or any apocalypse warning, and the strangest of it all was that there wasn't any article regarding it on the web search either.

He briefly wondered if there was someone destroying all the evidences.

Perhaps one of his acquaintances would know?

.

.

 **Calling Kine …**

"The person you have called is unavailable right now. Please leave a message after the beep."

.

 **Calling Pizza Delivery …**

"The person you have called is unavailable right now. Please leave a message after the beep."

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 **Calling Shinra …**

"The person you have called is unavailable right now. Please leave a message after the beep."

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 **Calling Shizu-chan …**

 _Beep beep. Beep Beep. Beep beep._

 _Clack._

 _Beep._

 _._

 _._

Izaya arched a brow at the screen— he'd already parted his lips to speak when Shizuo hung up on him without uttering a word, not even the usual long growl of 'Izaya' or a grunt Shizuo always made under his breath whenever he was angry. He didn't even expect Shizuo to pick up, but at the very least now he knew that Shizuo was still alive, as he'd predicted.

He didn't think anything could kill Shizuo.

How coincidental was it that at that moment, there was a sound outside, as if someone accidentally knocked over a trash can or something. It piqued his interest, and he immediately rushed to get outside before he lost whoever it was. It could've been a mere cat but Izaya wasn't going to take that chance and miss the opportunity to meet the last resident of Ikebukuro, regardless of the fact that that person might be Shizuo.

"Shizu-chan?"

"Don't you want to play? I'm sorry I wasn't around yesterday! Surely you can't be mad about that. Look, it's just you and me here. You can't settle for someone else, so why not come out and face me?"

The street was still silent the way he'd first discovered it forty minutes ago, which meant Shizuo wasn't nearby, as Shizuo wouldn't have been this quiet if he was to hear Izaya's voice in Ikebukuro. Knowing that there was someone left, but the person turned out to be Izaya, now wouldn't that be such a nightmare? It would be amusing to see Shizuo's reaction to that.

"So you're not Shizu-chan. Who is it, then?"

No reply.

Not surprising. He looked around to find the person -if it was a human- who could've even been the perpetrator and stayed around to see how Izaya was doing when he was presented with this absurd situation. All of these theories inside his head were only feeding his interest more and more, causing it hard for him to keep his patience in check. Where's the fun in figuring out the answer so soon?

Failing to find that person, Izaya continued his search, only this time for any sign of Shizuo instead, because there was no way that people could've brought him along if they were evacuating, right? Well, unless he'd threatened them, or Kasuka had forced him to come along.

"It's so laughable I can throw up," he exhaled with a smile, "How can there be so many people who still bother with him when they know that he's not one of them? Someone who's so short tempered and can break their bones in a second should be isolated, but they flock to him anyway. But… what can I say? Such monstrous strength is fascinating, so Shizu-chan can be showcased like animals in zoo. It'll be very entertaining to the public eye."

"Where could that monster be?"

Twenty minutes had passed since he started searching, and he still didn't catch even a glance of that silly bartender outfit Shizuo always wore, nor his bleached hair that always stood out in the crowd. Izaya did consider that Kasuka could've taken Shizuo away from Ikebukuro out of his so-called sibling love, but there was no harm in trying. After all, he was sure that Kasuka would eventually get tired of Shizuo's nonsense, too. It was simple to understand that monsters and humans don't mix well together.

Speaking of siblings—

Izaya had one of his own, two, to be precise, whom he'd forgotten until Shizuo and Kasuka crossed his mind. Those two troublemakers didn't even have the decency to tell their brother of what was befalling Ikebukuro. He figured calling them would probably result in the same voicemail, thus he clicked on another contact that he didn't use often.

"Hello," he spoke, and the feminine voice from the other line answered him, quite cheerfully, he might add.

It had been awhile since he last phoned his mother.

"Do you know where Kururi and Mairu are?"

"No… it's nothing. Never mind, then, if you haven't. I thought they'd say something to you."

The twins' apartment wasn't far away from where he was at, and he considered whether he should go and check, despite knowing that they wouldn't be there. After moving out, he barely ever visited it. Perhaps there would be some clues left there? He often saw Kururi and Mairu popping up in the chat room and discussing the current events that were unfolding in Ikebukuro. If their laptop or phones are still there, he could search for information on those.

"I _am_ taking care of myself," he replied, barely catching the question she threw at him after a handful of stories relating to their lives there.

Izaya headed straight to the elevator when he arrived at the apartment, phone still pressed against his ear but he wasn't really listening, only catching bits of what she was rambling about— nothing important, anyway. He thought he'd have to pick the lock, but the door wasn't even closed, partly opened and it made a creak when he pushed it, stepping into the room and expecting to see a trashed room. However, it was the opposite.

"Mairu can take care of herself and Kururi, there was a reason why I applied her to learn self-defence with someone I know."

The laptop was there, but it was out of battery. He'd have to bring it back to his office to charge.

Next to the laptop, there was a framed picture of their family, which was taken from a long time ago. The twins were still babies and there was a little Izaya holding on to his mother's skirt, smiling at the camera.

"Where did they get this?"

It brought forth an odd feeling inside of him that there was a possibility he could no longer hear the sound of Mairu's loud voice and the occasional 'how are you's' from Kururi.

Looking over them had been a nuisance since he barely had time for himself when he was at home, and their parents were always away, but Izaya wasn't a person who'd forget of the warm memories for when he did enjoy their company— no, he still remembered those. They often bothered him even when he moved away once he deemed they were old enough to take care of themselves.

Although whenever they lay their eyes upon him now, they've been making attempts to injure him (mostly Mairu)—the promise that Shizuo made with them was probably to blame (he doubted Shizuo would actually let them meet Kasuka even if the deed is done) but there were still specific times that stood out to him, like when they asked for his help regarding information they desired to know of or begged him to treat them ice cream just because they refused to use their own money.

It still felt rather good to know that he was needed.

Almost like he was needed by the humans he adored, except that he was never that invested in them since he considered them to be one individual split in halves and thus were like each other's mirror. They then changed because of what he said, stubbornly tried to form their own separate personalities and he felt slight guilt for being the cause of that— yet he didn't change his mind.

There was no reason for him to toy with his own family, his flesh and blood that he'd raised and cared for, despite how many times he'd thought of them as nothing but troublesome burden he was forced to carry.

" _Family,_ huh?" Izaya muttered to himself, the nail of his forefinger tapping the frame as he scrutinized the picture, unable to tear his gaze away from it.

More memories were starting to crawl into his mind, and he shrugged it off, deciding that he shouldn't linger around and reminisced during such dire time. There were far more important things that he had to do, that'd contribute something to his research as to what was happening in Ikebukuro. Plus, he didn't like that feeling very much— the feeling of being weak.

"I have to go. I'll call you again later."

Izaya didn't wait for the other line to respond to end the call, tucking his phone away, and he approached the window to have a breath of fresh air— opening the window and folding his arms on the windowsill.

He recalled how Namie always mentioned that humanity hated his guts, and although he knew that was the truth to an extent, was it that hatred that drove them to disappear without a trace from Ikebukuro? It must've taken a lot of courage for them to act on this and not expect Izaya to search for them. Surely it wouldn't be that hard to locate them, right? The mass amount of Ikebukuro inhabitants would make his job tremendously easy. There was no way no one didn't see them.

Unless, some kind force or virus did this, and he was the only one unaffected, which made sense since he was in Shinjuku at the time. Would it take such a short time, however? Izaya was in Ikebukuro until five in the morning last night.

A quick glance at his watch told him that it was only fifty past eight.

What could've happen within the span of three hours?

The Dollars website had been quiet, too, and didn't update on anything regarding the situation. It was a bit odd given that they were always so eager to report every little thing that was happening in Ikebukuro. Perhaps a live-blog of what happened was a bit too much for him to expect from them?

Izaya brushed the tip of his finger across his bottom lip, the corners of his mouth stretching into a grin as he continued to assess the surroundings for more clues.

"Interesting."

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* * *

 **Note: ! hi sorry abt may 4. anyway, this is a new fic and it'll have like 8 chapters. ill try to make the chaps better next time. :-) fun trivia: did u know that this fic is inspired by a spongebob episode? yeah? yeah. anyway i hope you enjoyed that! leave a comment on what you think so far, comments make me happyyy. thank you so much for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**DAY 2**

There was a paper stuck to his cheek which was damp with sweat, hair sticking out in almost every direction, and his eyelids felt heavy when he woke up, barely able to make out the numbers written in red on his alarm clock. He couldn't even recall if he'd set an alarm at all or if he accidentally slept through it again. It was already almost afternoon.

"Seems like I had a weird dream," he muttered to himself, remembering bits of what he was 'dreaming' of, where there was a scene in which he was standing in the middle of an abandoned Ikebukuro.

Messy handwriting of possibilities as to what could've drove people away from the city filled the paper that he pulled away from his cheek, reading the first few lines to get a gist of what he'd written last night. It seemed that he still didn't manage to come to a conclusion last night since there was insufficient information— funny thing to say when you're an informant.

"Ah. It wasn't… a dream. Really, you'd think that they'd be back by now."

The first thing he'd done after scouring Ikebukuro for hints (more like breaking into several random offices and houses) was to get home, plug in the charger for the twins' laptop and turning it on. There was nothing useful in any of the folders -most of them contained anime videos and unsurprisingly, porn- but he had more luck checking the internet browser history, as expected. Recent searches were quite interesting, there were things like 'how to get rid of a fever' 'fever is getting worse' 'internal bleeding' and 'the aphledian virus' and the rest were useless ones that mainly consisted of social media sites.

He'd done his research regarding aphledian virus which took hours until he realized that it might not be the cause of people's disappearance (despite it does induce fever and cause the patient to vomit), as infectious as it is, it didn't make sense to assume that it infected everyone in Ikebukuro, or even most people. It wasn't serious enough. The internal bleeding search also didn't correlate with the aphledian virus one, considering he couldn't find any information that it causes internal bleeding.

From what he gathered so far, perhaps Mairu and Kururi (or one of them) had fever and internal bleeding, thus attempted to search for the name of illness they were facing, which would explain the aphledian virus search. They probably heard or saw the name somewhere and decided to look into it, but then came to a conclusion that it was false. What bothered him was that there wasn't any other search after aphledian virus. It'd have made his job easier if the twins had searched for more viruses.

It kind of made him wonder if he should've watched Death Note 3 again.

Frowning, he tossed the paper aside, along with several others which were clattered on his bed, and he shifted to sit at the edge of the bed. The thought of his sisters suffering a dangerous virus didn't seem so inviting as he'd thought before all this took place, the mental image was especially gruesome.

However, some things didn't add up for him to just leave it as 'a virus attack'. It was still odd how the disappearance didn't appear on any news, not even an article on someone's blog. Nothing! It was like no one saw it except him. That couldn't be it, right? He was sure that he wasn't hallucinating. But to go over it again, there was a possibility that those who don't live in Ikebukuro were told to keep their mouths shut by a powerful individual or group. He still didn't know if that sound he heard in Ikebukuro yesterday was made by a human or an animal.

.

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 _Orihara Izaya, reborn!_

 _._

 _ **Orihara Izaya**_  
Do you know what's going on in Ikebukuro?

 _ **Tsukumoya Shinichi  
**_ Straight to the point. I can see that you're shaken up now that something out of the ordinary has shown itself, something that you can't control.

 _ **Tsukumoya Shinichi**_  
But no, I can't disclose such information.

 _ **Orihara Izaya**_  
How much do you need?

 _ **Tsukumoya Shinichi  
**_ I don't need any. I'm not aware of the cause of the disappearance, if I was, I would've given it to you for free.

 _ **Orihara Izaya**_  
You must be lying.

 _ **Tsukumoya Shinichi**_  
Do you have proof? How can I know you didn't awaken that head and destroyed the city?

 _ **Orihara Izaya**_  
Forget it. I'll figure it out on my own.

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 _Orihara Izaya, confirmed dead!_

 _._

 _ **Tsukumoya Shinichi**_  
You didn't even ask if the entirety of population in Ikebukuro has gone down to zero.

 _ **Tsukumoya Shinichi  
**_ Which I would've replied by saying there is one person left.

 _ **Tsukumoya Shinichi**_  
I better clear the chat history before he comes back.

"Are you really certain that there's nothing wrong?"

.

.

The doctor almost dropped the papers when Izaya moved in closer, gazing at his eyes (it was a smart way to check if he was lying, the doctor agreed), and he faltered for a moment under that sharp stare, but immediately regained composure and gestured towards the cotton ball Izaya had pressed against the puncture wound from the blood withdrawal.

Izaya adjusted the cotton as instructed.

"Your test results came through just fine. I've been very thorough with this, so you can be sure that I didn't misdiagnose you."

"I'm offering you more than what they've given you."

"Please do not offer me bribes, Orihara-san. I am not that kind of person."

Izaya didn't seem convinced, though much to the doctor's relief, he didn't insist further.

"Can you do me a favour, then? Send one of your men to test the air and water in Ikebukuro. I'll drop by again soon for the test result as well as another check-up."

"Of course,"

"…if it'll make you feel safer, Orihara-san, I'll have them go do just that tomorrow."

"That's relieving," he tipped his head to the side and shook the doctor's hand, flashing a toothy grin.

It was a shame that he didn't hear anything when he pressed his ear against the examination room's door before he exited the hospital.

Izaya assumed the doctor would sigh in relief, or blurt out that he'd been lying and there was in fact something happening in Ikebukuro.

But there was nothing.

.

His phone had been quiet the whole day that Izaya almost thought that he'd accidentally set the profile to be on silent, but _clearly_ , that wasn't the case. He sighed inwardly, staring at the screen with his bottom lip jutting in a pout.

Even the suicide chatroom was void of people.

"I hope they're not dead."

The doctor's behaviour was suspicious, and it bothered him that perhaps there really was someone who had paid him a good amount of money to keep him quiet from giving out any information about the virus (if it was that, of course). But Izaya had been following the doctor around when he went to test the blood, all so he could watch his own eyes— from every procedure that had to be done to every word written on the test results.

He was undoubtedly healthy, though.

Could it be that he was immune to it, like Shizuo?

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"The new volume for Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 is out!"

The squeals startled him, had him cringe from the shrill voices (he was immediately reminded of Mairu) that belonged to the two girls not far from him, seemingly excited by the recent release of a famous manga. Really, the only reason Izaya knew of this was because it acted as a shortcut to strengthen the relationships that he wanted to form with certain teenagers.

Before he could think of anything, his feet wandered, and he followed the girls into the bookstore, feeling rather intrigued.

For what reasons, he wasn't sure of, but Izaya trusted his insticts.

The first magazine he picked up was Metropolis magazine— or it was something like that. Izaya wasn't interested enough to know, since he preferred real books or the internet to be his main sources of motivation. Most of the things that are in a magazine would also exist on the internet. And he wouldn't have to pay a cent for the information, unless it was something that was rather private, that he'd have to delve into the deep net and use his money.

He flipped through the pages, eyes scanning the headlines written at the top of every article, to find something, _anything_ that would lead him to the events in Ikebukuro.

When he didn't find any, he merely dropped the magazine back to where it was and picked up another one.

"That… Ah, excuse me, sir."

He averted his gaze from the page to the girl standing next to him— she seemed nervous (was it her first day on the job?), fingers gripping at the hems of her apron as she looked pointedly at the magazine he was holding, as though that'd give him an idea of what she wanted to say.

"You c-can't just read them, you have to buy the magazines first."

"Ayano-chan? That's not how you do it! Let me."

A boy came through, and he was your typical rowdy high-schooler, with scrawny body yet they try so hard to look menacing with their expression. If anything, it only brought a smirk to Izaya's face. It was like a puppy trying to threaten him.

How adorable.

"See, this isn't a library! We have to make profit and I can't just let you do this. If you don't want to buy anything, then get out of-"

"I'll buy them all," Izaya interrupted.

"Eh?"

He only flashed a smile at the puzzled pair.

"How much are they?"

.

.

The night in Ikebukuro was his favourite.

It was when the city was at its best, people passing by as if it was daylight and the bizarre occurrences that often took place when the moon was out—including the Hollywood and Saika attacks which made the colour gangs' roughhousing look like child's play.

Oh, what he'd give to experience that again.

His binoculars lowered to reveal the crimson eyes gazing down at the quiet street below, legs hanging off the edge, and he gave out a sigh before tucking the binoculars into the pocket of his jacket.

"As expected, no one is around."

"Well, if it gets too tedious, I'll just head to bed."

The purple sweatshirt and grey shorts he'd chosen for tonight (along with his trademark jacket, of course) was already good for him to sleep in, if by the end of the night he decides that today was just another day of failure. A failure to get his hands on the information he needed most.

He'd spent the entire evening flipping page after page of the magazines and newspapers that he'd bought at the store, in hopes that the nosy media would report the disappearance— yet he found nothing. You'd think that out of 25 magazines and 10 newspapers, there'd at least be one that'd take interest in it.

Was the affair Miyano and Yamada had _that_ much more interesting?

.

"Now,"

"This is what most humans say they'd do if they're the last human on Earth, right?"

There was a skip in his steps as he made his way into the convenience store, hearing that little bell that went off when he pushed the door open. He was surprised to see that the place was still heavily stocked with food and hadn't been raided clean like he expected it to be.

"I'd settle for a much fancy restaurant, but for now, a konbini would have to do!"

"Cookies and cream ice cream with caramel swirls? Sounds like something Shizu-chan would eat," he muttered to himself, despite choosing _just that_ from the freezer and tugging at the wrappers before having a taste.

The ice confection was too sweet for his liking (he preferred bitter things, or at least mildly sweet) but he still bit into it anyway, teeth suffering from the cold and he wondered if Shizuo wouldn't have felt that and just chewed the ice-cream like it didn't faze him at all.

Now that made him think-

Was there even a possibility for Shizuo to freeze to death?

"Where is he, anyway?"

"Yo, Shizu-chan!"

"Shizu-chan, don't you want to have a taste of this?"

Of course, there was nothing, no reply— he didn't receive a vending machine to the head nor a shout of his own name. It felt rather boring to sit there on the floor— legs crossed, in silence with an ice cream in his hand.

"I kind of miss him."

There was a crooked smile on his face as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Of course, this is the part, where, I have to clarify that it's not that I like him, but rather I miss messing with Shizu-chan."

.

 **Calling Shizu-chan …**

 _Beep…_

 _Beep…_

The person you have called is unavailable right now. Please leave a message after the beep.

.

"Huh."

"It worked yesterday," his brows knitted in confusion, gaze boring through the screen of his phone, half expecting Shizuo to feel the stare, to come running back to Ikebukuro so he could chase Izaya away. Though, if he was being honest, he didn't think Shizuo had any reason to restrict him from visiting anymore, as Izaya didn't mind to give him 90% of Ikebukuro at a free cost!

Now that there was no life in Ikebukuro, the city was pretty much useless, unless he was in the mood to scavenge and play around as though he was the main character stranded in an abandoned city.

"But Shizu-chan would probably want 100% to be his. Hah! He was always saying that Ikebukuro was his, Ikebukuro was his, and now his wish is finally being granted, albeit not in a very nice way. Haha."

He got up and strolled along the aisles, when something caught his eye.

Izaya couldn't figure out why that specific mentaiko onigiri seemed to appeal so much to him. Sure, he loved seasoned cod roe itself but he also liked tuna mayo. It was strange, almost like a nostalgic feeling, a sense of warmth settling deep in his heart.

He shrugged the feeling away and settled for the curry beef udon next to the onigiri section instead.

"399 yen," Izaya scrutinized the price tag on the plastic that he'd ripped off the container, while he waited for the udon to be ready.

"Well, it's free now."

The microwave dinged just as he tossed the tag away.

The last time he'd eaten this kind of convenience store food was when he was still with Mairu and Kururi, and some days, he didn't feel like cooking so he bought such food as dinner. It was to save budget as well— as it was better for him to try and save money despite getting paid for his side job as an informant as well as allowance from their parents.

Udon was chewy, he thought that it could be better, but the curry and beef were great.

He finished his meal in no time, as he'd forgotten to eat lunch earlier, which was rather disappointing, since it caused him to forget to chew carefully so he'd digest better.

Next, he went for the fried goods.

It tasted delicious. The tenderness, juiciness and crispiness of the fried chicken almost had him moaning in satisfaction if it wasn't for the nagging thought at the back of his mind, reminding him that it was disgusting how he was stuffing himself with such unhealthy food.

"A~hh! It's fine. This way, I'll be able to understand humans more."

Izaya took another big bite of the chicken (he couldn't resist, it was hard for him to bring himself to put it aside) before his hand reached for the chopsticks by the oden cart, and he picked up a daikon radish piece, blowing on it before popping it into his mouth.

Seeing the oden cart only reminded him that winter was coming very, very soon.

The tofu kinchaku was hot, but he still bit into it after only a few seconds after he fished it out of the cart, chewing carefully. His stomach had long ago started to feel full yet he kept on eating. Just like his humans said they'd do.

He didn't bother using the provided bowl, instead opting to scoop the broth with a ladle. The broth was refreshing, especially since the chill of the night was starting to set in, making him glad that he didn't forget to bring his favourite jacket along.

"That's enough."

But of course, Izaya wouldn't allow himself to turn into a glutton.

.

.

"This isn't good. I'm much slower now."

He blamed the fried chicken he had earlier for the decrease in his speed as he ran along the rooftop of an office building, and much to his relief, he made the jump to another building. That was dangerous— but Izaya lived for the thrill. Though, it would've been even better if Shizuo was there behind him, however— as it'd add to the adrenaline rush, unlike now where he didn't feel the need to be fast (or having to dodge anything thrown in his way to make it more challenging).

The height made it easier for him to spot anything out of ordinary, but the downside was he'd have to drop down to search through the dark alleys.

It was a little bothersome but where else should he search for clues when the rest of the options seemed to despise him?

The city itself. Ikebukuro.

"Meow."

"Oh?"

"Have I finally found a friend?"

He smiled, turning around and jumping off to scale the building, one to another, and his fingers reached for the edge of the fire escape stairs.

There was that sound again, similar to what he'd heard the day before, only this time it was a perfect distraction that whoever it was out there, had orchestrated as Izaya lost his footing and the sole of his right shoe grazed the side of the wall before he fell to the ground with his ankle twisted in a painful way.

It wasn't the time to focus on his injury, however, as Izaya was much more interested in the sound.

"You're not an animal, right?"

Izaya glanced back at the cat nearby, before running off the opposite way, where the noise came from. His switchblade was already drawn out the moment he heard another sound, this time it was someone cursing out, which Izaya almost missed if it wasn't for his good hearing.

"There's no way."

There was no more sound that came after that.

He waited for approximately ten minutes (he wanted to go after them, but he didn't know which route to choose), until he had an inkling that that person had yet again escaped.

"I'll respect that decision. We can drag this out longer, but I hope you know that you won't have my downfall that you're waiting for."

"How cowardice," crimson eyes narrowed, the corners of Izaya's lips stretched into a wide grin.

"that's what I like."

It wouldn't be so fun if it was over so fast.

Of course, in the end, he'd manage enough by himself to lure that person out— unless there's a whole group of them.

If a game of cat and mouse chase was what they wanted, Izaya can provide them just that.

A sneeze hit him as he tucked his switchblade away, causing him to frown, sniffling and briefly wondering the truthfulness behind the doctor's words. He'd have to get himself checked out again, but perhaps at a different hospital next time?

There was no one he trusted enough to do such important task.

"I don't even trust my own self, sometimes," he murmured under his breath, bringing a hand up to scratch at the back of his head with a sigh.

"Let's just head back."

"I wonder if Shizu-chan would kill me if he knew I have a second home in Ikebukuro?

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 **Note: I'm happy to see ppl interested in this i just hope tht i can keep tht up for the rest of the chaps lol. but anyway, thank you so much for reading and to those who left a review as well, bcs it makes me really really happy to read them :-)**


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